All Work and No Play...Week of 5-11 to 5-17

So work just went from a couple days a week to straight up full time.  The latest job?  A huge bathroom renovation in Canton, CT, about two hours from my home.  And home to a ton of epic trails, from what my research has uncovered...so I'll be scouting, plotting and attempting to do something?

And does it seem like we went straight from winter to summer here?  It does to me.  There's definitely an adjustment that the body needs to make to acclimate to a drastic change in temperatures.  7 Sisters got warm pretty quick, and the run I did yesterday was uncomfortable, to say the least.  Of course, I was out in the Sun at the warmest part of the day, so it's my own fault!

That said, I'm running the 6th Annual KIAI 5k in Wakefield this Saturday.  It's a great race in a scenic town, and for a cause I wholeheartedly support, raising funds to provide karate scholarships to deserving kids who can't afford the tuition.  My friend Julie is the race director, and she puts on a great event!

And...depending on what the girls have planned this weekend (i.e. shopping), I might sneak off to run the Soapstone Mountain Half Marathon, a trail race and part of the Grand Tree Racing Series.  But that's dependent upon their schedule, not mine.

Monday-Tuesday - 0.  The job is WAY out there.  Northwestern part of the state, 15 minutes from the Mass. border.  The house sits on a hill, whose driveway is so steep that we had to park the equipment trailer at the bottom and schlep all our gear up.  It's so steep that we backed the truck out today while accidentally shifted into drive.  In drive!  I might create a segment out of it for hill training...

Wednesday, 5-13 - 2.6 Miles - Enders State Forest, Granby.  I scoped out some trails near our job, and this place got great reviews for its scenic waterfalls, and was 5 minutes from the jobsite.  Not much about trails or maps, but we finished early for the day so I drove over to check it out.  Unreal place.  The trails were unmarked, mostly borne out of foot traffic alone, and I hit some dead ends, but what fun!  I looped several times through the gorge that showcased several waterfalls, and scampered across boulders alongside the river, and generally had a great time.  Some good steep climbs as well!

New phone.  First panoramic picture.

The "trail" is straight ahead!  Not left!

Not bad for a Wednesday afternoon after work :)

Great place...nice swimming hole!

Looking downstream toward the falls

Thursday-Friday - 0.

Saturday, 5-16 - 8-ish Miles - 6th Annual KIAI 5k, warmup/cooldown, and dog trail jog.  OK!  Official results?  4th place out of 162 runners, 21:16 @ 6:50 pace.  My sixth time running this race and my best performance yet!  I got fourth friggin' place!  And wasn't real far off #3, only 9 seconds...pretty damn stoked about it, if you hadn't guessed.

Drove down to Wakefield and after checking in and chatting with friend/race director Julie Conte, I ran a short warmup with Paul G. and tried to figure the weather.  It was starting to rain, which I'd sort of hoped for, and looked like a good turnout!  I lined up with the fast looking kid at the front, who asked what I was shooting for.  I said I'd be happy with a sub-22:00 on this rolling course.  He was shooting for 18:20.  Um, sure...(I later found out he races track against young Mr. Walker).  Anyway, the race starts and I fall in around 15th place, as a bunch of young kids went out fast but looked like they'd fade pretty quick.  They did.  I reeled people in until I was in about 6th, and fell in with a woman who was running the same pace, and we stayed together the entire race, exchanging the lead a couple times.  I was able to outkick her in the last bit of the race to move into fourth place, and first in my age group!  Sweet!  Look,  here's the first page of results!  Proof!

This may be the only time I get this far up the leaderboard :)

Got home, and took the dog for a trail run.  Nice to have this 50 yards from the front door!

Trails across the street!

Sunday, 5-17 - Long some kind of run.

To Shad Bloom or not to Shad Bloom? Week of 5-4 to 5-10

Not to Shad Bloom.  I was away last weekend, and this being Mother's Day weekend, I'm gonna pull the plug on spending the day on Block Island on Saturday, and slip in some early runs.  I'm working long hours the first part of the week, so any miles will be made up on the back half/weekend. Fortunately, the weather just took a turn into awesomeville in these last couple weeks!  Things are looking good around here...

Unfortunately, I found out that the Sportsmen's Club banned all future use of the short section of the Narragansett Trail that ran through their property, so it will have to be re-routed.  This might turn out to be a blessing in disguise though, s it was a short, comparatively mundane stretch of land.  The 'Gansett is a kickass trail, and this might make it better overall...

Monday-Wednesday - 0 Miles.

Thursday, 5-7 - 4 Miles.  Sleeping Giant State Park, Hamden CT.  For short, intense, painfully steep climbs, SGSP is close enough to make the drive worth it.  80-ish degrees and sunny, but I wanted to take a crack at a couple of segments, namely the 2/10 mile, 30% climb up the side of the "chin," alongside the old quarry there.  I also wanted to take a shot at the 1.4 mile Tower descent.  I scored a 7th on the ascent, and the GPS screwed me out of a top 5 on the descent.  I also took pictures at the tower and sign for the DEEP "Sky's the Limit" challenge!  So there's another one down.

The chin of the Giant.  Short bitch of a climb, 30% grade.

View from the top, looking south toward the Sound

Lots of this!  Yum!

From the tower for the challenge.  Nice shirt!

At the entrance for the challenge.  Take another selfie, Psycho...

Friday, 5-8 - 7.5 Miles.  Beach Run, Watch Hill/Misquamicut run with Woolley.  He's back, ladies and gents!  Back from New Zealand and ready to run.  Met Ryan at his place and we hit the foggy, mid-tide beach for an easy cruise to Taylor's place, and on to the tip of Napatree Point and back.  Great getting caught up, and a good day to have the wind at our backs on the return, as the fog burned off and it started to get really warm.  Good run!

Saturday, 5-9 - 0.

Sunday, 5-10 - 5 Mile mixer, Mystic.  Hot!  When was the last time I said that???  It got really warm here, so I thought Mystic, cool run along the water, jump onto the trails in town, blah blah blah...not so!  Still very hot, and I felt sluggish despite a slight breeze.  Upped the pace on the last couple miles, but felt it and sucked wind to get a decent pace.  I think I needed the beatdown though, as transitioning from cold running to warm running is shitty but necessary...and I almost got run over several times, almost ran over people suddenly changing directions several times, and saw an SUV that tried to climb a historic tree in front of a historic house on Pearl Street in Mystic.  Not sayin' it was texting, but I could see no other scenario for this accident.  Goddamn dumb driving there...

Thus ends a lower-than-low mileage week for me, and I missed a great race I signed up for, looked forward to, and skipped for the right reasons, but really f-ing wanted to be there.  Don't expect to see that again.  I was a miserable SOB all weekend...more so than usual, haha!  Next week will be quite different. One race on Saturday, and possibly a long trail race to jump into on Sunday if the stars align...

7 Sisters Trail Race

7 Sisters.  The Holyoke Range, in Amherst, Massachusetts is the site of this 12-mile, absolutely brutal trail race, which first took place in 1991 and has grown to be quite popular.  It's part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup series and the WMAC Grand Tree trail series, and is listed by Runner's World magazine as the "Hardest Up/Down Trail Race" in the country:

(http://www.runnersworld.com/trail-racing/americas-best-trail-races?page=single)

This race was on my radar, and back in December one of my friends suggested it (the blame for this insanity can be traced back to well-known instigator Way Hedding), so of course I signed up immediately!  I'm easy like that.  Upon further inspection...this race was legit, well-attended and considered to be a tough, technical and super-hilly trail race.  Sweet!

I really didn't give the race another thought until about a month ago.  I do lots of races, and decided that this one required me to book a hotel room close by so I wouldn't have to deal with a 5 a.m. drive from Connecticut.  Then I dug a little deeper and found out that this wasn't another out-and-back trail run.  This was a bit more.

Greg Hammett had said to me that this race was a different animal.  I trust Greg's opinion, and he was 100% correct.  I consider myself a very good (not fast, but good) trail runner.  I also prefer technical trails, the trickier the better.  I spent time training on hilly, technical trails, and got some good runs in ahead of the race, despite my work schedule.  I was looking forward to this race in ways I can't describe - I love these events!  I get so hyped, and I wasn't even nervous, just excited.  

Drove the two hours from my place on Saturday.  I did packet pickup when I arrived in Amherst...then chatted with the race crew and ran into Beth shortly thereafter!

Swag!  Had to grab the shirt and cap

We drove across the street and scoped out the race start.  I wanted to do a short run on the first part of the course, but I was also starving and wanted to get food, so we met up with Faith and Joe, and the four of us (the other WTAC and assorted crew were arriving in the morning) went for dinner and drinks at the Amherst Brewing Company.  Afterwards, we all bid each other goodnight, and I proceeded to my room, set out my clothes, and didn't sleep until around midnight.

Race morning:

I was up and ready before 6, met the crew for breakfast and we all headed over to "The Bunker," where the race started.  Met the rest of the crew, including WTAC'ers Paul and Carol Ann, and local running stud Don.  We also wrote Cancer Sucks! on our arms to show support for Faith's friend Eileen:

Cancer Sucks!  Stay Strong, Eileen!!!

 After grabbing a few pictures, I cruised over to run the first section of the course.  Yikes!  It quickly turned straight uphill and got tight and technical really quick.

Race day, and off in the distance...

With 500-ish runners ready to go, I knew there was gonna be some serious traffic out there, but I was determined to give it a good effort and have fun at the same time.  I was entered into Wave #2, possibly a mistake on my part but what the Hell, I'm pretty good on this terrain and figured I'd hold my own.  I waffled before the race about what to wear (I chose my singlet) and what to carry (I chose my handheld, filled with electrolyte drink and stored with 3 gels, and left the phone in the truck).  Chatting with local runner and fast dude Kyle, who had parked next to my truck, my choices seemed about right.  I knew it would get very warm very fast up there (forecast was 77 degrees by noon), but that the water/aid stations were spaced 2 miles apart and that I'd be OK, which I was.  I'd also pre-hydrated with several beers the night before ;)...

Funny, the air horn goes off and everyone walks into the woods.  My wave starts, and we all shuffle into the first part of the race.  The first climb was mainly a climb, not a run, and took quite some time.  After that?  I got around people as I could, and soon realized that the descents were as tough as the climbs, and that I would rarely be "bombing the downhills," as I thought I would...

Hey, that's part of the trail!  See the people?  Photo by Beth!

Holy shit.  And the "Sisters" seemed to have multiplied, as the steep downs and ups were relentless.  I counted like 50 Sisters.  The mile 2 station was water, so I filled my bottle, and finished off a nearly empty gallon jug.  Mile 4?  The same.

At "The Porch," I knew it was a walk (required) across the porch of the historic building, then a mile long descent to the turnaround.  Walking across the porch, I was lucky enough to high-five the race leader, who was also walking (when does that ever happen???), and I continued down to the 6-mile mark/turnaround, which looked like a block party!  Tons of goodies, and the best volunteers around.  I made sure to thank everyone I saw helping, because volunteers rock!  We should all lose a few seconds of our race thanking them.  Made it to the turnaround in 1:28...soooo there's a chance to go sub-3?

I must be really annoying, but I cheer on every person I can during races like these.  I'm not going to win, but I'm sure as Hell going to have fun and support my fellow runners.  On the way back to the porch, I started to see my people!  Joe, Carol Ann, Faith, Paul, and at the Porch?  Beth!  She gave me a hug and said she was going to drop.  No problem.  It was hot out on a tough course, and there were many casualties...really, between twisted ankles, dehydration, and who knows what else, I'm surprised there weren't more.  I'm glad I wasn't one.  Tough day!

Finished with the mile-long uphill climb after the turnaround!!!

Gave Beth a hug and continued on.  At the mile 8 water station I ran into Don, who'd twisted his ankle and was waiting for a ride off the mountain.  He told me to get moving, and that he'd see me in the lot.  I kept on, and it seemed like a much longer time to the water station at mile 10...but I was happy, upbeat and loving the course and the pain of the hills, but also really ready to see some finish line!  There are 47 false summits in the last two miles of the course, which scream "This is the last climb!  You're almost there!!!" and...they're not.  Wicked Sisters...

I finally reached the last summit, where a few people were trying to help some dude finish the race, and he was obviously not stable enough to navigate the last stretch of trail.  Dude.  Just stop.  The last downhill is dangerous even if you have your wits about you.  He had a whole posse with him, though, so I continued on to the finish.  I skipped as fast as I could down the loose rock to the bottom of the course, and cruised to the finish in 3:10, good for #151 out of 431 finishers (471 started).  I was thinking sub-3:00 without having seen the course, but I'm stoked about my result!  It means a couple of things: first, that I was assigned to the right group for this race; second, that I'm totally comfortable with technical single track trail races;  and third, that my hydration/fuel/gear choices are good.  I was happy, hurting and never bonked during this race, not once.

Happy post-race me!  Photo by Beth!

Caught up with Beth, who was fine that she DNF'd, and Don, who was not.  Next year, Don!  Wound down and changed up for the ride home.  Saw Paul on my way out, who dropped out due to muscle cramps.  Tough day for Paul.  On the other hand, Paul's wife Carol Ann finished the race like a boss!!!  Faith and Joe also finished the race as well and loved it.

So there!  I'd like to say that everybody should get to experience a race like this.  It's not a course I can adequately describe, and any pictures do not truly do it justice.  Mile for mile, this is the toughest race I've ever done, hands down, a truly epic experience for me and I'll totally be back and striving for Wave #1 next year!  Hopefully with friends again, we had a great time.  If you do want to attempt this race, though?  Here's my two cents' worth: It's a relentlessly hilly, technical, brutal course, one which requires putting serious trail time in the books to even consider attempting.  Seriously.  But if you put in the time, train and get to run this race, it's awesome!!!

A big shout out to the race directors.  You guys put on a Hell of a race, and I'm 100% sold on being there next year.  Your volunteers were great, and the park rangers/officials were friendly and professional.  Thank you again!

7 Sisters Week! Week of 4-27 to 5-3

Oh Hell, here we go...

I registered for the 7 Sisters Trail Race months ago, with the knowledge that I'd done Mt. Greylock, Pisgah, and a bunch of other trail races that served up some good challenges.  Then Greg Hammett had to go and mention that Pisgah was like a manicured golf course compared to 7 Sisters.  Shit, did I just step out of my comfort zone?  Why yes, yes I did!  And I can't wait to get up there for it, I'm so excited...driving up the day before, staying over and meeting up with friends, and getting to drive a scant 10 minutes to the race start.  There may even be a pub involved on Saturday evening, purely for carb-loading?  I'm in Wave #2 on Sunday, which means I either vastly overestimated my abilities, or I'm right where I need to be for a challenging race.  I plan on bombing the downhills, as I'm comfortable with them, and power hiking the climbs when it's steep.  Should be fun!

Monday-Tuesday - 0 Miles.

Wednesday, 4-29 - 4 Miles.  Oswegatchie Hills Preserve, Niantic CT.  I'm working at a house right on the water in Niantic, and driving in on Tuesday, I (of course) noticed some trailheads that were clearly blazed...we work all day, and in chatting with the homeowners, I found out that they're heavily involved with the preserve and are longtime members/conservationists.  I liked them immediately.  Today I had an hour of downtime and quickly changed up, and hit the trails across the street.  A hilly mix of technical and smooth singletrack, with really cool rock ridgelines up top, and some rooty, twisty sections in the gullies.  Loved these trails, and not what I'd expect from the flat Niantic I know.  Warm day, but a cool breeze helped a lot!

Great trails!

Thursday, 4-30 - 4 Miles.  Mattabesett trail run up Higby Mountain.  I had to stop by CFPA headquarters for blaze paint for trail marking, and to drop off the trail kit I'd checked out (I made my own).  Chatted with fellow trail manager Marty, who recommended the nearby Tynan trail connector to the Mattabesett, with a good climb to Higby Mountain.  Great technical climb, great view, and awesome descent!  Lots of mud, no blood, but I'm sure I'll have some of that at 7 Sisters :)

Quarry through the trees

Nice single track on the ridge

Castle Craig in the distance, next on my hit list

Friday, 5-1 - 0 Miles.

Saturday, 5-2 - 0 Miles.  Drive to Hadley/Amherst, MA to pick up race packet, check into hotel, and meet Faith, Joe and Beth for dinner and drinks at Amherst Brewing Company.  Took less than two hours to get to Amherst.  Scoped out the race start with Beth, then we all went to dinner and bid each other goodnight.  7 Sisters in the morning...

Sunday, 5-3 - 7 Sisters Trail Race.  12 Miles.  Separate post coming shortly.

Two Race Weekend: Week of 4-20 to 4-26

I have the State Police 5k Foot Pursuit this Sunday in Narragansett, which is one of my "legacy" races, meaning I've run it every year since I started doing races, and don't ever plan on missing it.  It's also a WTAC team race, and we've won it the last few years (no thanks to me, I confess!).  Past results below:

2010 - #190 - 26:17 @ 8:28
2011 - #333 - 27:20 @ 8:48
2012 - #226 - 24:30 @ 7:55
2013 - #164 - 23:39 @ 7:37
2014 - #81   - 22:22 @ 7:12

Plenty of room for improvement.  More interesting, though, is that this Saturday, the day before the Foot Pursuit race, is the inaugural Chikumbuso 10k in North Stonington.  I'm interested in this race because it's right up the street from my house!  I can do a warmup to the race, run the race, and do a cooldown run back to the house.  Sweet.  Going to be a tough race though, it starts/finishes at the top of a hill, so the last mile of the race is a steady uphill climb.  Looking forward to it!

Monday, 4-20 - 0 Miles.  Work day, and a day to stalk some friends' progress at the Boston Marathon!  It was gross out anyway, I don't think I would have gone out anyway...kudos to those who did!

Tuesday, 4-21 to Friday, 4-24 - 0 Miles. What the???  Worked three days in Waterford ripping out an old, 30+ foot front porch and replacing all of it, including the joists. One day in Wallingford helping to install new stone-paneled shower stall, heavy stuff.  No motivation at the end of each day to run.

Saturday, 4-25 - 8 Miles.  Trail warmup, and First Annual Chikumbuso 10k Challenge.  46:55 @ 7:34 pace.  7th OA, 1st in age group!  Results here: 

 http://www.coolrunning.com/results/15/ct/Apr25_Chikum_set1.shtml

To say that I'm pleased with the results would be an understatement.  Colburn called me on Friday, and mentioned that the race would start at the Grange and end at Jonathan Edwards winery, and thus would include two runs up Chester Main Road, once at the start and once at the finish.  Crap.  I quickly mapped it on Strava, and it looked to be about 700' of elevation gain.  This was gonna be a tough race.

I arrived early and ran into some of my WTAC crew, including Denise, Rose, Buddy and Way, who was emceeing as usual.  I did a short warmup on the Hewitt Farm trails around the corner and before I knew it, we were lining up to race.  The race also included a 1.5 mile fun run, and a 3 person relay, so I figured what the Hell, line up in front.  Paul G. taps me on the shoulder and wishes me luck, asks me what my goal was.  I really didn't have one, as it's a hilly course that I've run, but not raced.

Way yells "GO!" and we're off.  The lead guy takes off like a shot and is quickly way out ahead.  I'm in a group of 4-5 runners, and find myself in 2nd place for a bit?  Huh?  Did I go out too fast or something???  Very odd feeling for me to be in 2nd, if even for a couple of minutes, so when I got passed by a couple of people, I felt a bit more comfortable.  Weird.

After the first climb, I felt good, and really enjoyed the descent down Chester Main.  The rest of the course was hilly but rolling, not steep, and at the final climb up Chester Main, there were about 5 of us within seconds of each other, but I didn't enough gas in the tank to make a final charge to catch them.  Really happy with my results though!!!

Awards presentation

Great awards, too!

WTAC at the Chikumbuso 10k

Swag!  Made in Africa!  And I got a gift card to the Engine Room for winning my age group, sweet!!!!

Sunday, 4-26 - RISP Foot Pursuit 5k.  1.6 Mile warmup with Jeff, and the race.  Results?  44th of 725, 4th AG, 21:08 @ 6:49 pace.  Sweet!  I took 1:14 off my time from last year's course PR, and Strava had me clocked at my fastest 5k to date!  Not bad for the second race of the weekend!!!  I had a great time at this race, I always do.  It's such a fun atmosphere.  It's a big race but not too big, takes place along the ocean, and always has the best cookout and great awards.  Kathy Robbins and her team at TriMom Productions does a fantastic job putting on these events!!!

I arrived with Colburn (we carpooled), and we quickly got checked in at the pavilion.  I ran a short warmup with Jeff to assess the wind, and it looked like the last mile would be a headwind.  Nice.  I got prepped, said hello to a bunch of friends and familiar faces (including superstar photographer and friend George Ross), and geared up for the race.  Cool weather but I opted for a singlet, LVL Renner beanie and gloves.

I went out steady, and maybe lined up a bit too far back, and maybe some people lined up too far forward?  Never learn.  I lined up in the front row yesterday and did great, right?

Mile 1 was a 6:53.  Mile 2?  6:53 also, pretty damn consistent.  Turning onto Ocean Road for the last mile, my legs felt done, and I felt slower, but I was a 6:37, and finished well!

After I crossed the finish line, I changed up and grabbed a burger, chatted a bit and snapped a picture of Colburn crossing the finish line:

Colburn's finish!

  Waited for the results and I came in 4th in my age group, one second behind the third dude.  WTAC Men won the team event again!  For our efforts, we each won a $150 credit for any TriMom events, so free races!  Sweet!!!

All in all, a great day and great weekend.  I greatly exceeded my expectations for the 10k, and was still able to perform well the next day at the 5k.  Depending on my work schedule in the coming week, I'll try to get some technical trail time in as a trainer for 7 Sisters...

Workin' for a Livin', Week of 4-13 to 4-19

My work schedule just took a big uptick, so I'll be working much more frequently for the foreseeable future.  This also means a dawn to dusk workday at times, and will make getting runs in quite challenging.  That said, I don't have any races this weekend, but I have a 10k/5k double the following weekend and the 7 Sisters Trail Race the week after that, so I'll be trying to focus on hilly trails as I can, and hope that it translates well to speed for the road races.

Monday, 4-13 to Wednesday, 4-15 - 0 Miles.

Thursday, 4-16 - 4.7 Miles - Lantern Hill Fun.  Lots of people out on Lantern today!  I meandered around the hills, and gave the Top to Bottom segment a good effort, and ended up with 700+ feet of technical vert.  Got to play trails ambassador to a couple of groups, gave out directions, and checked on one family to make sure they navigated the back part of the blue-blazed trail safely, which they did.  Lots of fun.

Fantastic, sunny, breezy day on Lantern Hill!

Friday, 4-17 - Boston family day trip.

Saturday, 4-18 - 6.7 Miles - Green Falls.  I hadn't been to Green Falls in quite a while, and as it's right up the street from me, I headed down for a run.  I made my way up to the dam, and looped around the pond to the beginning of the Nehantic trail.  Took that as far as the connector trail, and used that to cut across to the Pachaug trail.  The connector trails are badly overgrown, and the blazes really faint.  I got turned around a bunch of times on this section, but eventually made it to the Pachaug, and returned down along the river to my truck.  Lots of people out on this sunny and warm day!  I was actually too warm in a short sleeved tech shirt???

Sunday, 4-19 - 8+ Miles - Green Falls/Yawgoog trail run with Joe S.  I hit Joe up earlier in the week about doing a trail run, and as he'd never run near Green Falls before, I quickly decided to give him a tour, but with designs on making the trek out to the Long/Ell Pond area.  Crisp, sunny day for a run, and it turned out to be Joe's first trail run in a while!  Great day for it, too.  Some technical trails, a few good climbs, and lots of nice views on the trail today!

Clamdigger Week, and "Sky's the Limit!" Week of 4-6 to 4-12

Sunday is the 34th Annual Clamdigger road race.  I've done no speedwork, but my mileage is way up, so there's that?  Either way, the weather looks to be pretty damn good.  I have to beat the following time/place from 2014:

29    Michael Crutchley   36:39.0  7:20/M

I feel great right now.  The PT has helped immensely, my knee feels almost back to normal, and I might PR, might not, but if I feel good I'm gonna give it a shot!

Monday, 4-6 - 0 Miles.

Tuesday, 4-7 - 5 Miles (Trail/Path) - Hurd State Park, East Hampton, CT.  My first stab at the CT DEEP "Sky's the Limit" Challenge.  It's a challenge involving 14 high points throughout the state:  if a person completes 10 of them, they receive a state park medallion (like a finisher's medal).  If they complete all 14, they're entered into a drawing for a hand-carved hiking staff... 

Hey!  That could be me, thwarting the elusive Big River Bandit!

Cool!  The rule specifies that you have to take a "selfie" with the sign at the park entrance, and one at the highpoint.  I set out for Hurd State Park, and the "Split-rock Vista," the first on my list.  Of course it started pouring right as I got to the park.  Dammit.  I really hadn't researched the park, other than that the road leading into the place split the trails down the middle, it was hilly, and that the vista point had views of the Connecticut River.

Got to the park, took my selfie at the entrance, then hit the trail.  I eventually found the spot, and snapped off a couple of shots up there:

Yup, still cold and raining (but no snow!!!)...

On a totally random spot along the trail :)

Spruced-up USGS plaque!

Ooooohhh, so serious...

Split Rock Vista.  Great view from here

Got lost and soaked in the process, but hey, no snow.  Warmed up on the ride home.  So that's One!  On to the next.  Details of the challenge can be found here:

http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?Q=559438&A=4707

I might spin this off to a separate page, as it's a pretty interesting challenge.  I went to Sleeping Giant last week and ran to the top, and forgot that it's on the list.  Whoops.  Have to hit it again, then!

Wednesday, 4-8 - 0 Miles - Work day in Wallingford.  That night, for whatever reason (I think I was dehydrated, but it could have been something I ate or a stomach bug), I felt "off" and went to bed early.  Tossed and turned until 12:30, at which point I barely made it into the bathroom to throw up like I've never thrown up in my life.  

It was worse than this, just ask my wife...

Couldn't believe it.  I even woke Lori up with my retching, and I'm sure that image will be burned into her memory forever.  Suffice it to say, it happened just as bad again at 3:30 and I never slept...

Thursday, 4-9 - 0 Miles (Obviously) - Stayed in bed, slept, and slowly rehydrated.  Lori brought me Pedialyte, which is like the nectar of the Gods...was feeling noticeably better by the evening.

Friday, 4-10 - 3.5 Miles (Trail) - Champlin Glacier Park, Westerly.  Felt good enough to hit the trails for a bit today, but didn't overdo it.  Good call.  Trails clear, slightly muddy and awesome...

Saturday, 4-11 - 0 Miles.  Passed the bug along to the wife and daughter, which they really appreciated...spent most of the day caring for them, and while they were sleeping I was able to go and help my friends move into their new house!  Right near the hated "Pumpkins Hill" segment, haha...decided to call it a day after that and finish looking after the girls :)

Sunday, 4-12 - (Road) - 34th Annual Clamdigger 5-Mile Road Race.  36:24, 26th OA, and a PR!  Separate writeup WAS to follow, but I'm working all week, so here goes...

"I survived the Vomitron."  Yes, I should get a t-shirt for how much I hurled on Wednesday night, seriously.  I felt good Sunday morning but not 100%, but what the Hell, let's give it a go.  Got down to the beach and helped get set up, then helped Mike B. put out signage and mile markers (we were way off on a couple, sorry!).  Got back and helped Jeff at post-registration (we were freezing!) until 4 minutes before the race.  Seriously, who shows up 4 minutes before a race, unregistered?  With barely time to put my shoes on, I jogged a .1 mile warmup to the start, and the race started shortly thereafter.  I had exactly what I didn't want to wear on, as I dressed in a panic.  Yikes!

I fell in quickly with WTAC teammate Shira, who was pushing her boy in a stroller, and stayed with her for the first two miles, then pulled away on the bumpy uphill roads in Weekapaug I'd warned her about.  I'm impressed that she can keep such a speedy pace with that stroller!

After the Weekapaug section, I knew I'd be turning into a brisk headwind.  Past the breachway, I passed a runner who looked to be cramping badly, who turned out to be Dirk, a local dude who trades Mystic segments with me sometimes in Mystic.  He made it in, but was hurting by the finish line.

I caught up to a woman around 4.5 miles, we gave each other encouragement and I pulled away briefly, only to be passed shortly after, and never realizing that it was none other than Chris G.'s better half, Katie.  Nice kick!  I didn't have a response, but I did squeak out a PR!  Sweet!!!

Great chowder and awards after, and good conversation with runners, including a few new WTAC members.  I did a quick sweep to pick up the signs, and we were done!  Another successful Clamdigger, and I'm already getting good comments from the participants.  The great thing about this is that we're able to give back even more to our local causes, and remain a positive presence in this community.  Gotta love being a part of something good :)